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My dad's heart condition and the gene editing debate | Genetic Engineering Ethics - Free To Speak

My dad's heart condition and the gene editing debate

He has a genetic heart issue, and everyone says we should edit it out. But what about the people who can't pay for it? This just makes the gap between rich and poor bigger. I think we're looking at the wrong stuff. We should fix healthcare access first.

4 comments

4 Comments

the_drew6mo ago

Actually stopping this tech to wait for a perfect system would be a huge mistake. People are suffering right now, like your dad, and telling them to wait for some fair future is cruel. Every big medical leap, from vaccines to heart surgery, started out expensive before it got cheap and saved millions. The goal should be making it cheaper for everyone, not holding back the science that could end whole diseases for good.

adamwebb6mo ago

My dad's cancer drugs ran about $10,000 a month out of pocket. Seeing that mess, I totally get your point about not waiting for a fair system. We need to push the science forward now, even if it starts out for the rich few. The goal has to be getting it to everyone else as fast as possible.

river_dixon6mo ago

Hold up, that logic has a big flaw though. Just because something starts expensive doesn't mean it automatically gets cheaper for everyone. Look at insulin, it's been around forever and is still brutally expensive for many. We can't just hope the system fixes itself later, we have to fight for fair access from the start.

gavin3655mo ago

Exactly. The insulin example is a policy failure, not a tech failure. New tech like mRNA followed the old pattern, it was insanely expensive at first for cancer trials. Now it's in cheap flu shots. The problem isn't the science getting cheaper over time, it's when companies keep old drugs expensive on purpose. We should fix that problem directly instead of slowing down new stuff that could save lives.